Today was a very productive Easter Sunday although I will admit that some of the work in this update was actually accomplished yesterday!

In looking into the problem with the gun mount and the equilibrators, I came across a detail that Gary Edmundson had included in his build in the Osprey "Modelling the German 15cm Bison and Grille". That detail is the inclusion of two additional round racks in the floor area ahead of the rifle racks. This item doesn't show up in any of the interior photos in MBI and Spielberger because of angles but Gary mentions he used photos of a Grille recovered in Austria from the river Enns so I'm guessing that's where he got it from. It's not something mentioned in the DML instructions but additional ammo racks are available on the sprues, so I painted 2 up and stuck them into position. It makes sense to me that this space would be used for this since there's no radio operator and it's just dead space otherwise.



Returning to the left side, I installed the missing MP40 after test fits with the lower hull to get it in the correct position. The gunner's seat was also added and I scrounged a firing table decal from an unused set from the Bronco Marder I that I trimmed down to size and applied with Solvaset. Some weathering was added in the form of some Burnt Umber stippled in place for some scuff marks and then counter-stippled with the base coat color to break it up and provide some randomness. A pin wash of Raw Umber was also applied and then the base coat dry brushed over that to blend it back in where needed. A spray coat of Testors Lusterless Flat was applied to seal it all in prior to installation.



The same process was also applied to the right side.



I also assembled and installed the radio operator's chair and began the assembly of the fighting compartment. First up was the installation of the front plate. In order to achieve that, the gun travel lock needed to be installed and mated up with the latch on the interior through the little key-hole opening in the front plate. Once that had dried, I glued the front plate down with liquid glue and let it set up. I finally figured out what the pre-bent piece of steel wire that was provided as part MC-2 was for...it's supposed to represent the wiring conduit for the Notek light. I wrestled with it for a while trying to get it to fit into the proper position and finally gave up. Reference photos show it's supposed to hug the joint between the glacis and the superstructure front plate but the wire's too big for that to actually happen, so I left it off.



Now came the moment of truth, time to add the superstructure sides and the rear doors and central panel to create the fighting compartment. After much thought, I decided to mount the tools later as I'm worried that there's not enough clearance at the front for example to mount the wire cutters and sledge hammer as called for in the instructions. Rather than have them possibly interfere with the compartment sides, it was more important that they fit properly first and I'll worry about the tools later. Due to the way the end curved brace has to fit under the engine access hatches, it has to be slid into position first since it fits sort of like in a groove and then the sides slid into position. Can't do that if the tools or gear on the rear portions of the fenders are installed, so that too will come later. I added the left hand side first with regular glue for the joins along the sides and once that had started to set I used liquid glue and finger pressure for the joint with the front plate. The same process was then repeated with the right side and when both sides were solid, I added the hinge points and installed the rear doors and center panel. A very small amount of putty was needed at the join on the front right side near the base but otherwise everything went together smoothly.





Completing the effort for today, I detailed the gun breech using enamel Silver for the interior of the breech and the sliding block. The activation handle was painted with non-buffing metalizer Gunmetal and then dry brushed with steel as were the elevation wheels. The gun sight was also detailed and the eye piece drilled out with a pin vise. The interior portions of the gun were given a wash of Raw Umber and then dry brushed with the base coat. The contact rails for the recoil sled were painted with Steel for their bare metal look to round things out. The rest of the gun will be weathered along with the exterior when the time comes after it's been installed.



Total Session Time: 7.25 hours

Total Time to Date: 45.5 hours

Darn it Bill now that I see how this is shaping up I wish I bought this one! I almost did three weeks ago. Keep going, looking great.

Again, I must congratulate you on your progress. She's coming along very well. I love the firing table and the weathering on the interior. I also noticed the two additional round racks in the Osprey book and was wondering about whether or not every vehicle had this configuration. I have one question: the Grille H carries a total of 15 rounds (with the additional 2 round racks) yet only has enough space/compartments for 12 cartridges. Where did they put the additional 3?

Great progress!

Sebastian

Jim, I'm sure you'll get another chance...especially if you wait a little while and look for a sale!

Sebastian, that's a good question and one I don't have an answer for which makes it all the more intriguing. Even without the extra 2 racks down below there's still 13 rounds "standard" vs. only 12 cartridge boxes...so there was one extra regardless. Perhaps the other cartridges were carried by the Munitionswagen version since all the available space was already occupied on the gun-carrier? The prototype interior layout pictured in MBI shows that only 10 cartridge boxes were originally fitted while still retaining the 13 racks so having a gap was always known...they just managed to close it to 1 in the final configuration by moving around the radio equipment and putting all the boxes in one spot instead of spread around. The written sources I have are silent on what may have been done to keep the load equal between rounds and cartridges unfortunately but it does raise an interesting curiosity all the same.

Bill the more i see your work the more in awe i become, if i model for the next twenty years i doubt i'll ever come close to the masterpeices you build truely blown away. keep up the good work mate. Ant

Ant,

Appreciate the kind words but can't really lay any claims to greatness, there are many superior builders/artists to me out there for sure (and many of them are right here on Armorama). Everything I use in the way of techniques I've picked up from others so I'm happy to share in return. All it takes is time and patience and a willingness to experiment and try new things (and make some failures along the way too!) and anyone can achieve the same type of results.

looks real nice, did that green chart thing come with the kit?

Oh I know I will. I have only been buying armor kits for four or five years now. I'll get one. I'm not worried.

Thanks James! DML doesn't provide a firing table decal in the kit so I scrounged a spare from the Bronco Marder I since it's the same decal sheet they provide for the 10.5cm gun version but the Marder I doesn't require a ranging table.

I had the day off today as part of an extended Easter weekend so decided to make the most of it. I added the missing details to the superstructure in the form of the antenna mount and base as well as the lower PE loops for the foul weather gear. The PE fret includes almost 2 full sets of loops so there's plenty of extras in case you lose some along the way. I added the loops using the reference photos in MBI since the kit instructions are somewhat vague on their actual placement. The loops were installed using a combination of CA gel applied to the PE parts as well as a small amount of liquid glue to the superstructure panel to insure a good solid join and also provide some flexibility/work-time although not much. I opted to leave the molded on top rectangular loops though as the PE items were too fragile and easily damaged when trying to remove them from the fret.

With that out of the way, I masked off the interior with blue painter's tape and it was off to the garage for some time with the airbrush.



I repeated the previous painting process for the interior, laying down a primer coat of Italian Dark Brown followed by a 50-50 base coat of Dunkelgelb/Light Gray. I decided to apply the camo pattern for a LAH vehicle at Kursk '43 and used Khaki for the olivegrun pattern. I sprayed the cross-hatched/web pattern free hand, starting on the left hand side and working my way around the superstructure, deliberately leaving the fenders out of the pattern. A light mist coat of the base coat mix was then sprayed back over it to tie everything together and provide a foundation for the weathering process.





The road wheels and return rollers were also detailed, their rubber portions were sprayed using Gunmetal and the hubs sprayed with the base coat mix using a circle template.



Total Session Time: 4.5 hours

Total Time to Date: 50.0 hours

smashing camo, good work on the free handing too.

Looks great Bill. That paint scheme came out very nice.

thanks for the encouragement Bill, sometimes i look at some of the builds on here and i feel intimidated because the guys on here are so talented, i feel like a rank amateur in comparision, perhaps it's because i don't own an airbrush, but then no that would be a cop out because some of the guys on here hand paint and get good results. maybe i just have to carry on experimenting learn from my failures like you said,
don't sell yourself short Bill you've got major talent. the finishes you get on your models are so realistic you'd think they were thereal thing. i'll heed your advice and try my best, but i think i've got a long way to go yet. lol thanks again, can't wait to see this masterpeice finished. Ant

Looks great as usual Bill. Thats a very interesting camo scheme....i like it!

Thanks James, James, and Jon for the comments.

Ant, being told something looks "real" is a high point and I thank you for that...it's something I strive for in every build. An airbrush is a great tool to have and is worth the investment for sure...but it has limitations like any tool. Being able to do solid brush work and air brushing is a powerful combination. If you ever get the chance to acquire one, I highly recommend it but you'll need the brush painting skills too. You should see my collection of "old fashioned" brushes, I've got about 50 different ones for various uses and applications...some old and some new, but all useful. .

Excellent Bill, camo looks great...as does everything! Will bookmark this for when I get around to building this one

Thanks James, glad it will be helpful when you get to yours.

Getting much closer to the finish line now and the latest round of effort focused in on the details for the exterior. The astute observer from the previous post will have noticed that I only painted 7 of the 8 road wheels...a fact I discovered when I went to test fit them in today's efforts and came up 1 short. Fortunately I found the wheel out in the garage where I do my painting and disaster was averted. I painted the wheel and also went back over the camo pattern and removed the green over spray to make the dunkelgelb color a little more dominant than it was before.

I also stated in on the tools and other equipment for the fenders. Starting on the left side, I already knew that the kit suggested positioning of the shovel and pick axe weren't going to work. The diagram wants you to install the shovel flat against the vertical side of the engine access hatch but you can't do that due to the interference from the curved rear brace of the fighting compartment side. The diagram suggestion is how these were configured on the 38t gun-tank and is a hold-over from their 38t G instruction diagrams. The solution is to position the shovel flat on the fender and have the pick axe sit on top of it. In order to be able to handle this as one piece instead of two, I used some liquid glue and glued the handles of the shovel and pick together in position and let it dry. I also test fit the location of the long pry bar to be sure it too would go in the right spot.



With that out of the way, I painted up all the tools for installation with the exception of the wire cutters, more on them in a bit. All of the wood portions were painted with an 80/20 mix of Afrika Grunbraun and Light Gray and then given a light wash of Leather. The metallic portions were painted with non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal and then lightly dry-brushed with Steel. I added the PE retaining straps to the axe and pick/shovel as well as the pry bar but left it off the sledge hammer since it won't be visible once installed and would've caused clearance problems with the superstructure when sliding it into place.

I'm not too impressed with the DML PE in this department...all of the straps provided are the same and fairly plain and lacking in detail. They also don't have any bend lines to help guide you in sizing them so you have to do it all by trial and error and even then they are too short for some of the things the instructions call for them to do. For example, they are too short to tie the shovel and pick together and also too short to adequately go around the wire cutters. This means you have to cheat a bit and position the gaps so that they are on the inside and away from view.



I installed the tools on the left hand side once they had dried and the wire cutters required special attention. The clearance at the front of the superstructure is insufficient to allow the inside handle to clear it properly. Since it's hidden from view anyway, I carefully trimmed it down to only that portion that would be visible and still allow it to fit. The road wheels and return rollers were also installed in anticipation of the tracks getting fitted tomorrow.



I also worked on the rear hull details. The muffler was base coated with non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal and given a wash of Rust and the spare track run added to the rear superstructure plate. The lenses of the Notek were picked out with Tamiya Clear Green and the four small leather straps added to the rear crew doors. I also added the 3 retaining PE straps for the tow cable and noticed on sprue A that two cable ends were included in the kit as parts A27. These aren't called out anywhere in the instructions and the front diagrams don't have them marked as not for use so they are a sort of "Easter egg" for you to find if you're vigilant I guess. I created the cable using a 10cm length of crochet rope that I first dipped into Future and hung to air dry. This accomplishes two things...it insures the rope won't fray and get "hairy" when painted and also stiffens it up a bit but not too much that it still can't be shaped into the proper position. The cable was painted up with the same metalizer Gunmetal and then installed into position and the leather straps glued into place to hold it down. In hindsight I could have benefited from having the thread just a few mm longer but had to kind of wing it in terms of overall length since no guidance is provided in the instructions.



The right side received its share of attention as well. The jack block was installed along with the two spare track runs at the front and rear of the fender. The sledge was glued into place and the head can be seen poking out towards the rear but that's it, the rest is hidden from view. The axe does a similar disappearing act at the front of the fender.



Last but not least, the spare track run of 7 links was added to the glacis and its retainer bar glued into place. I didn't notice until this pic that I hadn't painted the leather straps on the jack, will take care of that with tomorrow's activity.



Next up will be weathering the lower hull and getting the tracks on!

Total Session Time: 6.5 hours

Total Time to Date: 56.5 hours

NIce work as always Bill. Almost there on this one. Keep it going.

It looks really good Bill, the camo turned out great. It's good to see that everything is going well even though this model's a bit of a let down, if you consider the instructions and some of the shortcomings. How is the general fit of the superstructure plates? Is the process of fitting these parts to the lower hull difficult?
Anyway, great model and great blog, Bill!

Sebastian

James, thanks as always for the encouragement, getting close!

Sebastian, thanks for the comments!




I've gotten used to the "normal" instruction quirks when it comes to DML's variant kits...the further along in a family of vehicles development, the more likely they are to "borrow" instruction steps/diagrams from previous kits and this in turn generates parts numbering errors, incorrect placements, etc. that just have to be dealt with since DML doesn't seemed inclined to do anything anytime soon about the quality of their instructions.

The general fit of the superstructure plates is pretty good although the contact surface between the side plates and the front plate is in-scale and very thin as a result. Throughout the whole side panel interior assembly process I constantly dry fit and checked and re-checked the layouts to make sure there wouldn't be any interference with the mating to the lower hull, the extension braces, etc. This paid off when it came time to install the superstructure to the hull and I had no issues with it attaching to the sides. The rear curved brace slotted in perfectly under the engine access hatches on both sides and helped serve as a sort of "lock" as a result. HTH.

I been silently watching this build here and on FSM, and now I'm letting it out, WOW. Bill you've out done yourself, that is one awesome camo scheme. It would be easy to paint that on, say a Ferdinand, but a small 38t no so easy. You know I'll be following this build to the end, very motivating.
keep up the great blogs Bill, I enjoy reading along.

Rob

Thanks Rob, glad to hear you've been following along. As soon as I saw the box art and the finishing guide for this one I knew the Kursk pattern was going to be the one to attempt...and you're right about the size, this little gun buggy is tiny when comparted to a Ferdinand.

Today's efforts turned out to more of an endurance challenge than I first anticipated. Things got off to an easy enough start with the final installation of the sIG 33 and mount into the hull. I added the hinged armored piece as well to round things out in that department. In anticipation of adding the tracks I also added some light scuffing/weathering to the lower hull and road wheels by stippling some Burnt Umber with a round sable brush.



Next up were the magic tracks. The kit instructions call for 96 per side but that's way too many. Normally the 38t family need about 92 links per side so I cleaned up 184 links, removing the small ejector marks and the small scar in the middle from where they were once attached to a sprue. Some of the links also had some minor flash on the guide horns, so that was also removed as required. My assembly process for indy links is pretty simple...I assemble them 5 at a time as that seems to be about what works until the glue has a chance to set. I use regular Testors Model Master glue in the black bottle and will daisy-chain the groups of 5 together once I've got three built with the first and second getting added together while the third sets up a bit and I assemble the fourth. Once the fourth is assembled, the third gets added to the run and so on. As each group of 5 gets added, I use a pair of metal rulers to press down on the run using the guide horns to keep everything straight. I assembled two runs, one of 23 links for the lower and one of 70 for the upper to give a total of 93.



My next step is a little unorthodox but is a method that works well for my needs...I paint the runs while the glue is still setting up. The runs were brush painted with non-buffing Metalizer Gunmetal which dries very quickly since it's lacquer-based. I wear a paint breather mask as the fumes can be pretty strong even with good circulation. The runs are then dry brushed with Steel and given a quick wash of enamel Raw Umber to blend the Steel in and give it a used look. As soon as the wash dries, the runs get installed. I built and installed the right hand side first using a pair of toothpicks to help produce the right amount of sag. Turned out that in order to have the idler sit properly level with the last road wheel, only 90 links were required.



In order to insure a nice level set while the track is drying, I built the left hand side of 23 links and placed it under the left side while I worked on the rest of the links for that side.



The process was then repeated, installing the left hand side also with 90 links.



The tracks will set up overnight and then the toothpicks will be removed. There are a few odds and ends in the detail department for me to take care of and then it will be on to the decals and weathering stage.

Total Session Time: 7.5 hours

Total Time to Date: 64.0 hours

Bill punk very nice model!
one quastiion:it is a very hard model to build or not?